Very easy drinking. All of the extra elements - smoke, whisky barrel, vanilla - are notes. Nothing overpowers anything else. Chocolatey malt goes well with additions. Finish is a little weird, but not bad. Good beer.

Dark pour with thin creamy head. Nice lacing. The initial taste is delicious, although I will say that the aftertaste leaves a little to be desired. The whiskey flavor comes through, but not as strongly as other reviews suggest in my opinion. I didnt taste vanilla at all. I thought perhaps that would come in with the aftertaste, but no. A good session beer. I recommend a try!

4 pack from Ale Yeah! This needs more smoke. The smoke character is barely noticeable. Perhaps some far off campfire is buried beneath the very sweet vanilla bean aroma and flavor. Though this beer is too sweet to have more than 1/2 a bottle, the first few sips are quite enjoyable. It becomes a vanilla onslaught quickly though. The finish lets a little bittersweetness come out, but it’s not enough to provide real balance. This beer really needs more smoke.

12oz bottle poured into snifter. Dark pour with a soft creamy head. Nice aroma of vanilla, coffee, chocolate and slight fudge. Flavor is well balanced between the sweet vanilla and malts. Not too smokey which is fine by me.

bottle. black with ruby highlights and no head. smoldering campfire, bitter dark chocolate and bourbon in aroma. flavor is both smoky and oaky. very much like burning wood, some ash, and a slice of pepper steak. palate, however, is a bit thin. smooth for 7.5%, but thin.

UPDATED: MAR 25, 2012 March 25th update. Opened a bottle from the cellar and it appears an infection is setting in. Big rocky foamy head that doesn’t go away, stark contrast from fresh bottles. Biggest difference is a funky sour/tart character coming to light in the nose and particularly flavor. Not totally gone at this point...still gonna drink it but not nearly as good as when it was fresh. A shame...

12oz bottle, served around 50F.

Pours dark brown with a one finger tan head that leaves some sheets and spots of lacing and holds a light creamy cap and ring.

Aroma starts with the smoke, primarily of the smoked meats variety, beneath the smoke is a nice healthy dose of vanilla, really nice, light whiskey notes along with your typical roasted malt, chocolate and coffee of a good porter. Very good strength and quite complex.

Flavor basically follows suit, smoked ham and bacon, vanilla, caramel, chocolate, roasted malts, coffee, touch of whiskey, fairly sweet, hint of alcohol on the finish. Kind of like a meal and dessert wrapped into one. You get the savory smoked meats along with the sweet, almost sundae like qualities of the vanilla, caramel and chocolate. Unique and very tasty!

Mouthfeel is medium-plus bodied, somewhat creamy, good carbonation.

Okay so this is really good. Excellent smoky notes along with a lot of vanilla...definitely lives up to its name. The whiskey barrel aspect does take a backseat, but there is enough going on here where that isn’t a big issue with me.

Dark brown almsot black pour with a small off white head. Aroma was light smoke and oak with small hints of whiskey, some cocoa too.. Bits of vanilla crept though but only slightly. Flavors were smoky throughout with a light vanilla sweetness on top of bits of wood. Light smoky finish that was bittersweet. Everything about this one was pleasant and not overpowering. Well balanced with lots going on. The smoked vanilla beans gave way to a lightly smoked brew that could appeal to the biggest smoked hater. Very good stuff.

12 oz bottle from 4/pk. pours a dark brown with light highlights and a small tan head. vanilla nose with light oak and smoke... the whiskey is almost non existent.... a little surprised by this since the jack version was more apparent. medium body which starts to thin a bit... nice smoke level throughout... but the whiskey barrel again feels lost. some layers of chocolate, light coffee, dark fruits and lingering vanilla coat the mouth. nice sweet finish with more dark fruit tones followed by a pleasing smoke and vanilla aftertaste.

Bottle poured into snifter. Dark brown in color with ruby red beams when held to light. Slightly tan finger-wide head that diminishes pretty quickly. Aroma is mostly porter-like...dark roasted malts, grain, coffee and slight hints of the vanilla and whiskey. Maybe even a slight cinnamon-y note? Medium bodied and slick going down. Taste is fairly good. Unlike the 16th Anniversary earlier this year, the liquor is a little more subdued and used more as the backbone here...that’s nice. Taste starts bitter and roasty before the vanilla comes in late on the finish and lingers on the back of the tongue well. This is solid, but I admit that I’m slightly disappointed. But I think some aging will do this well. May re-evaluate in 6 months or so.

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